Remember Brayden Schenn? You might recall him from earlier in the season when he suited up in eight games at center for the Kings scoring no goals and adding two assists before he was sent back to his junior hockey team in Brandon.

Once back in the WHL, he was dealt to Saskatoon and while Saskatoon is now in the WHL playoffs, they’re just one game away from being eliminated which means Schenn would be eligible to return to the Kings and could suit up for them in the playoffs.

There’s a big catch though if the Kings opted to get Schenn into the lineup against San Jose and it’s got everything to do with the business side of things for the young prospect. Rich Hammond of L.A. Kings Insider gets to the bottom of the details as to why the Kings might be hesitant to call on Schenn to perhaps be the savior in the wake of losing Anze Kopitar.

From what I understand, if Schenn joins the Kings for the playoffs, he would still burn a year off his entry-level contract if he surpasses the nine-game mark. Schenn appeared in eight games with the Kings at the start of this season. If Schenn should become available in the next few days, the Kings would face a question: is it worth burning a year of Schenn’s contract, with no assurance that the Kings will go beyond the first round? It’s certainly an interesting question.

The Kings are the seventh seed against the second seeded and red hot Sharks and while Schenn is a very talented prospect, he’s still very green and his first run through with L.A. saw him average just over 11 minutes of ice time per game. We have a hard time believing that Terry Murray would give significantly more minutes to Schenn based on just having played a ton in the WHL. After all, the skill level between junior hockey and the NHL is just a tad different.

That said, if Murray and GM Dean Lombardi are desperate for any kind of help up the middle to make a run at the Stanley Cup, and Schenn is ready and able to handle the massive amount of added pressure to contribute you’d think it would be more than worth it to not sweat his contract. We know that Lombardi and Murray weren’t ready to make that commitment earlier this season but now that it’s crunch time, it could be enough to force their hand.

We’re thinking that the ever cool-headed Lombardi doesn’t budge and opts to run with what they’ve got now and just wait it out til next season for Schenn to get his first true shot to make his mark on the NHL. He’s never made a panic move before as the GM and while everything is on the line in the playoffs, he’s always locked in on the big picture.